1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure is directed to an electrostatic chuck (ESC) and is particularly directed to electrostatic chucks for use in processing of display panels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chucks are used to support and hold wafers and substrates in place within high temperature and corrosive processing chambers such as those used for chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, or etching. Several main types of chucks have been developed. Mechanical chucks stabilize wafers on a supporting surface by using mechanical holders. Mechanical chucks have a disadvantage in that they often cause distortion of workpieces due to non-uniform forces being applied to the wafers. Thus, wafers are often chipped or otherwise damaged, resulting in a lower yield. Vacuum chucks operate by lowering the pressure between the wafer and the chuck below that of the chamber, thereby holding the wafer. Although the force applied by vacuum chucks is more uniform than that applied by mechanical chucks, improved flexibility is desired. In this respect, pressures in the chamber during semiconductor manufacturing processes tend to be low, and sufficient force cannot always be applied.
Recently, electrostatic chucks (ESCs) have been used to hold workpieces in a processing chamber. Electrostatic chucks work by utilizing a voltage difference between the workpiece and electrodes that can be embedded in the body of the electrostatic chuck, and may apply a more uniform force than mechanical chucks.
Broadly, there exist two types of ESCs: a unipolar type and a bipolar type. The unipolar, or parallel plate ESC includes a single electrode and relies upon plasma used within the processing chamber to form the second “electrode” and provide the necessary attractive forces to hold the substrate in place on the chucking surface. The bipolar, or integrated electrode ESC, includes two electrodes of opposite polarity within the chuck body and relies upon the electric field generated between the two electrodes to hold the workpiece in place.
Additionally, in an ESC, the chucking of a wafer can be achieved using a Coulombic force or Johnsen-Rahbek (JR) effect. Chucks using a JR effect use a resistive layer between the electrode and the workpiece, particularly in workpieces that are semiconductive or conductive. The resistive layer has a particular resistivity, typically less than about 1010 Ohm-cm, to allow charges within the resistive layer to migrate during operation. That is, during operation of a JR effect ESC, charges within the resistive layer migrate to the surface of the chuck and charges from the workpiece migrate toward the bottom surface thereby generating the necessary attractive electrostatic force. In contrast, ESCs utilizing a Coulombic effect rely upon the embedded electrode as essentially one plate of a capacitor and the workpiece as the second plate of a capacitor, and a dielectric material between the plates. When a voltage is applied across the workpiece and the electrode, the workpiece is attracted to the surface of the chuck.
Despite improvements in ESCs, various industries continue to demand improved performance, for example, those industries processing larger, more massive substrates and workpieces. Notably, the glass industry and particularly the display industry are moving rapidly to produce displays of larger size. This shift to processing of larger workpieces, generally within high temperature and corrosive processing environments, places further demands on ESCs used during processing.